For work and other stuff

They say it’s the journey that matters…

College. What a…what? Experience? Joy? Challenge? A royal pain in the rear end? How about all of the above.

As the semester draws to a close and I tuck another semester under my belt, I think (slash, it’s sort of required for class) that it’s a good time to reflect on the things that I’ve been through over the past year and a half. As any other college student can vouch, there have been the fair share of all-nighters and mental breakdowns, but there have also been many, to borrow the term from wise ol’ Oprah, “A ha!” moments.

When I started Elon a very long (not really) year ago, I thought I was certain that I would be reporting as a broadcast journalist. I got involved right away with the student media organization that would allow me to pursue that path. However, sometimes I wonder whether I ruled out things to study too early.

There were many things that I was interested in and involved in, and still interested in, that would have possible careers for my future. For example, through taking this technical theatre production class, I found out that there are many more positions and people than just the actors and directors that make a show successful. Props people, for example (and this is not me sucking up to my professor, who happens to be a props gal herself, HONEST!), have to be creative, detail oriented and understand how to be resourceful and inventive when it comes to making props work in a particular way.

As I have said before, I LOVE to craft. I think it’s absolutely cool creating beautiful, new things out of ordinary objects you have lying around the house. And I can sit in one spot for HOURS trying to perfect whatever it is I’m making until I am happy with the outcome. I also have the tendency to rig things to serve a purpose for me. I always find myself saying “I wonder what would happen if I used this for that,” or “I bet this works like that, so I could use it for this.” Now if that doesn’t sound like a props master’s brain, I don’t know what does!

Then there is the case of astronomy. Last semester in the spring, I took a basic introduction to astronomy course that included a roof lab in which we used telescopes to find and identify galaxies and stars and clusters. I have always been fascinated with outer space and how it came into existence and I often caught myself wondering what it would be like to be an astronomer or an astrophysicist.

Enter my biggest frustration in college – WHERE DO I FIT IN?? It’s very obvious that making props and studying the heavens are polar opposites as far as interests go. One’s very heavy fine arts, the other, very science-y. With so many interests from every which way, how can I possibly know what I want to do with my life? It’s hard, as a college student and a young adult, to have to whittle away some of your favorite pass-times and extra-curriculars – for me it was acting – and focus solely on one field of study.

Right now, I am still trying to find the right place for me in the broad world of communications, and I know there will be some rough patches every now and then, but that’s expected. They will help me figure out my limits and give my guidance and direction. I know that eventually I’ll find the right place for me, because it’s like they saying goes “Success is a journey, not a destination.”